Getting to Lake Titicaca

You get an idea of why Titilaka is so special as you land at nearby Juliaca airport. As excited as any traveler is to see stunning Lake Titicaca, the cities of neighboring Juliaca and lake-side Puno are… not a good introduction. There is poverty in Puno, there is an indigenous culture forgotten by modern civilization, there are incomplete brick buildings, there is a growing urban haze. And bad news for most travelers: most of the hotels on Lake Titicaca are within view of all of this.

But then your private driver keeps driving, and driving, and driving. Almost blissfully, the city gets left in the rear view mirror. City sounds and sights give way to family farms and the families that work them. Long views of the lake compliment the wide open sky that feels closer at this high elevation. And thirty minutes later, you arrive at your country estate.

You’ve been told for years that you need to get there. That there’s nothing like it. That it’s an experience you’ll never forget. The mystery. The history. My goodness, the beauty. Any traveler worth their salt wants to get there, period.

After years of dreaming, months of planning, and days of hiking, you finally turn the corner and see it. Machu Picchu.

Now what?

This is the first question that our Colombia travel specialists often get when planning travel there. Americans in particular have concerns about traveling to a country so recently known for its centrality to the drug trade, and the violence that was born of it. I’m going to be honest with you. There’s part of us here at Global Basecamps that wants to lie to you. Part of us wants to say “wait 10 more years for things to settle down,” or “the security is not quite there yet.” There seems to be an exclusive club of travelers these days, a secret cabal of people in the know. They know Colombia tours have been safe for years. They know its beaches are top notch. They know it is absolutely one of the best countries to travel in almost because so few people go there.

Global Basecamps is incredibly proud to have been named a finalist for TravelAge West's Trendsetter Award for Upward Bound, Rockstar Agent Under 40. Our Travel Specialist Andres Zuleta, has been a part of the Global Basecamps family since 2009 and specializes in customizing travel to Japan and South America.

Hotel B in Lima’s bohemian Barranco district is one of our favorite hotels in Peru’s eclectic capital of Lima. To experience the best Peru tours, we see no reason to stay anywhere else.

There are other five-star luxury hotels in Lima worth mentioning. They have ocean views, perfect rooms, and undeniable service. But part of our job at Global Basecamps is to not just put you in a perfect (if forgettable) hotel, but to leave you wowed by your hotel. A true “Best of Basecamps” property is more than a perfect review on a website. There are hotels in the world’s biggest cities that feel like they’ve been there forever. Their sense of history compliments their pristine reputation and A-level service. Hotel B has this sense of history, which is confusing because it’s literally Lima’s newest hotel. (As of Summer 2013)